Traditionally, “The Ultimate Fighter” cast members and UFC Fight Night regulars are featured in the “UFC Prelims” specials. Therefore, a lightweight bout between “TUF 5″ cast member Joe Lauzon and British fighter Terry Etim is a leading candidate for a “UFC Prelims” spot, as is a middleweight bout between “TUF 4″ competitor Jorge Rivera and veteran Alessio Sakara.

Again, though, no official decisions have been made.

The UFC and Spike TV contracted 10 “UFC Prelims” specials for 2010. The one that aired as part of this past weekend’s UFC 115 event was the fifth this year. A sixth airs as part of next month’s UFC 116 event.

The UFC first offered a PPV teaser broadcast for UFC 103, when the UFC went head-to-head with a boxing PPV broadcast featuring Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. The specials proved effective enough at generating last-minute pay-per-view buys that officials from the UFC and the organization’s longtime cable partner decided to make them a regular offering.

The specials have drawn between 1.2 million (UFC 111) and 1.7 million (UFC 109) viewers.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?